1985 England rugby union tour of New Zealand

The 1985 England rugby union tour of New Zealand was a series of seven matches played by the England national rugby union team in New Zealand in May and June 1985. England played seven games, including two test matches against the New Zealand national rugby union team. They won four of the seven matches but lost both of the test matches as well as the fixture against the Auckland provincial team.

1985 England rugby union tour of New Zealand
Summary
P W D L
Total
07 04 00 03
Test match
02 00 00 02
Opponent
P W D L
 New Zealand
2 0 0 2

The preliminaries to this tour were shrouded in uncertainty and selection announcements containing players whose availability had not been confirmed. Dick Greenwood, England's current coach, announced he was not available having just taken a new job, and eventually 2 coaches were appointed under Derek Morgan, Martin Green and Brian Ashton. The party as a whole was very short of experience, and only three players had previous experience of New Zealand rugby at test level; Jamie Salmon, who had won 3 caps for the All Blacks, and Paul Dodge and Steve Bainbridge who had played in the 1983 match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham.

Matches

Scores and results list England's points tally first.
Opposing TeamForAgainstDateVenueStatus
North Auckland271418 May 1985Okara Park, WhangareiTour match
Poverty Bay45022 May 1985Rugby Park, GisborneTour match
Auckland62425 May 1985Eden Park, AucklandTour match
Otago251628 May 1985Carisbrook, DunedinTour match
New Zealand13181 June 1985Lancaster Park, ChristchurchFirst Test
Southland1594 June 1985Homestead Stadium, InvercargillTour match
New Zealand15428 June 1985Athletic Park, WellingtonSecond Test

Touring party

  • Manager: W.G.D. Morgan
  • Assistant Manager: W.B. Ashton
  • Coach: M.J. Green
  • Captain: P.W. Dodge (Leicester) 30 Caps

Full backs

  • C.R. Martin (Bath) 4 Caps
  • I.J. Metcalfe (Moseley) No Caps

Three-quarters

Half-backs

Forwards

  • S. Bainbridge (Fylde) 11 Caps
  • S.E. Brain (Coventry) 7 Caps
  • D.H. Cooke (Harlequins) 10 Caps
  • W.A. Dooley (Preston Grasshoppers) 5 Caps
  • J.P. Hall (Bath) 3 Caps
  • R. Hesford (Bristol) 10 Caps
  • R. Huntsman (Headingley) No Caps
  • J. Orwin (Gloucester) 5 Caps
  • G.S. Pearce (Northampton) 21 Caps
  • M. Preedy (Gloucester) 1 Cap
  • G.W. Rees (Nottingham) 2 Caps
  • A. Sheppard (Bristol) 2 Caps
  • A. Simpson (Sale) No Caps
  • M.C. Teague (Gloucester) No Caps
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